Census 2010: One Year Away

By
Ed O'Keefe

Census Day 2010 is exactly one year from today, and this week 140,000 temporary Census employees start fanning out nationwide to start accounting for every single American address. Originally designed for next year's follow-up visits, the GPS-enabled devices instead will be used only this year due to concerns about how well they would operate in different environments across the country.

In a continuing effort to expose the "nuts and bolts" of federal agency operations, The Eye got a demonstration of one of the "handhelds" during Monday's yesterday's Census-sponsored event with its national partners. Watch above as Census Bureau spokesman Raul E. Cisneros demonstrates in less than two minutes how address canvassers will use the device to compile and report information on addresses. (The video was shot on a FlipCam, a recent birthday gift to The Eye from Almost Mrs. Eye). Click the jump for a listing of Census-related events occurring today.

Census-Related Events Happening Today:

9:30 a.m.: A coalition of groups -- Entravision Communications, impreMedia, League of United Latin American Citizens, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union and Univision Communications Inc. -- launch the "ya es hora! Hagase Contar!" ("It's Time, Make Yourself Count) campaign at the National Press Club. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke joins the group for the kickoff.

1 p.m.: The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights holds a conference call "to discuss how certain challenges - i.e. ongoing immigration crackdown, the foreclosure crisis, and counting people displaced as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and no Census Director - will affect securing an accurate count in 2010."

2:15 p.m.: Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hold a news conference "to discuss the prospects for success and lingering concerns leading up to the 2010 Census."